Posted by: subjectcow1
If PS3 can handle 256 players(MAG), perhaps the xbox can handle half that much? I'm no expert but i would hope its possible. Unfortunately, i would bet we wont see this in reach. It would be awsome though.
The only reason MAG can handle 256 players is because the graphics are rudimentary for this generation, there is very little objects controlled by a physics engine in-game, and all the games are hosted on zipper's dedicated servers, which are exponentially faster than any of the connections that wind up hosting Halo matchmaking games (because the host is a player on their parent's comcast/verizon connection).
So long as Bungie sticks with the matchmaking model and player-based hosting, we will likely never see more than 16 player battles, and they've made it very clear that matchmaking is returning in Reach.
This is the same stink thats going on with the removal of dedicated servers in the PC version of Modern Warfare 2.